cry was dwarfed by Mr. Swift's sharp tone:

"Tom! The ticking of that watch! That means danger!"

The declaration seemed to rip away a curtain from Tom's
thoughts. Perhaps Rad's cry about "de bomb" aided the young
inventor to understand the peril that threatened.

The faint ticking sound that had begun to annoy him during the
past few minutes betrayed the nature of the threatening peril.
Tom swung back from the open doorway of the locomotive cab,
reached in to the space between the motors, and seized the bundle
of overall stuff that he had previously spied.

He knew instantly that the rapid ticking came from that bundle.
It could be nothing but a time bomb. He had heard of such things
and, indeed, had seen one before, an infernal machine which, set
like an alarm clock, would go off at a certain time. That
indicated time might be an hour hence, or might be within a few
seconds! Ned Newton, almost at the spot, shouted to Tom when the
latter reappeared with the bundle in his hands:

"Get down out of that, Tom Swift! Quick! For your life!"

But Tom was cool enough now. He saw his father's white,
strained face at one side and the young inventor could even smile
at him. Behind the foreman was set a barrel of water in which
tools were cooled and tempered.

"Stoop, McAvoy!" Tom shouted, and tossed the bundle from him.